"Hurry up Sara or we'll have to go down without you" Boby called up the
stairs.
Sara came rushing down.
"I'm ready, I'm ready" Sara announced.
Everyone left the Sidle's house and begun to walk towards what was camp cuckoo. Soon after setting off Sara pulled her father far behind the others to walk with her.
"I want a word with you" Sara demanded.
Boby co-operated.
"Why have you started being nice to Laney?. What are you up to?" Sara asked.
"You told me to stop ignoring her. To stop being horrid to her. You said you wished I cared about her more. I'm just trying to make things up with you. I want us to be on better terms, Sara. I was hoping we could have our own afternoon tea sometime soon. I'm just so sick of all this bickering between us. Me and your mother are happy why can't us two be?" Boby commented.
"My mom's gullible. I will never be like her. I know you inside out, dad!. There's no point trying to fool me!. The only reason you're ever nice to someone is to get them into bed or trap them into trusting you so you can hurt them later. So listen up because I'll only say this once. If you hurt Alaney in any shape or form I will hunt you down and kill you myself. Do you understand?. Don't test my patience because I have had it up to here with you. You are walking a very fine line" Sara whispered angrily.
"I'm trying my best, Sara. I just can't win with you!. I try and make it up to you. I try to be nice to stop the bickering but you still don't let up" Boby defended.
"Are you sorry?" Sara asked.
"What?" Boby replied pretending not to know what she meant.
"Are you sorry for all the things you've done to hurt people?. You know what I mean" Sara asked angrily.
Boby just went silent. He tried to speak but no words come out.
"You know me too well. You know there's no point lying to me. You know that I won't do much about the fact you don't care. But the fact is you don't care. You don't care about anyone more than yourself. All you care about is looking good. You don't seem to understand. The point of forgiveness is that you're meant to be sorry for what you've done. We can't move on until I've forgiven you and unless you were genuinely sorry that can't happen. What's wrong with you?. How can you think that everything will just be o.k. because you say so. How on earth do you think I can just forget when your not even sorry?. Maybe mom's right. Maybe you are ill in the head. You just don't seem to understand the seriousness of what you done" Sara lectured him.
Boby sighed. He was disappointed but was taking some of this in.
"Can we at least be civil?. We used to be civil before your friends came" Boby tried.
"We can be civil. But we won't be having any jolly afternoon teas. Civil ones maybe" Sara replied.
Sara pointed a finger right into Boby's face and said angrily,
"Don't touch her!".
Sara turned away to walk off but Boby said something which caught her attention,
"I love you. So why's it so hard to believe I might be falling in love with her too?" Boby asked.
Sara was quite shocked but this. But knew how to react.
"I find it hard to believe that you just suddenly woke up this morning, after eighteen years of feeling zilch for her, and decided you love her. You've never thought of her as part of this family - so don't pretend you do now. But frankly, it's doesn't matter whether you love her or not - that won't stop you hurting her. Just don't go near her. Please" Sara replied.
The walk hadn't been long through the forest when the group soon approached a fence. Again there was a sign which said 'PRIVATE PROPERTY'. There was a gate and they went through. Catherine and Grissom began to hear music. It sounded like a guitar and a young man singing. Sara was in front of everyone and as they reached the trees clearing Sara announced,
"Welcome to camp cuckoo!".
Catherine and Grissom glanced around. There were loads of little wood houses. They weren't much but they were better than trailers. Behind the small houses were four medium sized houses. They were Libby and Boby's siblings' houses and Daven's mom's house. Catherine counted sixteen of the smaller houses. These smaller houses all faced inwards in an oblong shape. All the houses had porches and there were people sitting on them. There were loads of campfires and people sitting round them. There were quite a few children, quite a few teenagers and quite a few adults. Some people wore full blown new age clothing, some had a hint of modern and a hint of new age, and some wore purely modern but casual clothing. It was early evening and the breeze was cool. Everyone seemed so relaxed and happy. Children were playing various games with each other. Teenagers and adults were sitting round chatting or listening to the boy who was playing the guitar and singing or they were listening to music records.
"What's wrong with it?" Catherine asked.
"Nothing much. Except for the harms of drugs I'm fairly happy with it" Sara answered.
"So why did you make a fuss?" Grissom asked.
"If I'd never given you any warning don't you think you'd be a bit taken aback by the 24/7 street party feeling?. Even the clothing?. Anyway, the real thing isn't as bad as the stereotype. But the locals have blown everything out of proportion. They think it's some kind of cult or something. Camp cuckoo's just different - their not too dangerous. You get drugs and casual sex anywhere" Sara explained.
"I suppose your right. I would have been surprised if you hadn't warned me" Grissom admitted.
"You're lucky. It's not howling night" Sara laughed
"Howling night?" Catherine asked.
"If you'd be here a week earlier my mother would have more than likely make you howl at the moon. But hey freedom of opinion!. Whatever pushes their buttons. The week before some people even had a partner swinging session. But my parents aren't into that anymore though" Sara explained.
"Tell me it's a type of dance" Grissom replied.
"Don't be such a prude" Sara laughed.
Catherine was quite surprised Sara had just reacted that way.
"Did you say 24/7 partying?" Catherine asked.
"Basically!" Sara smiled.
"It looks like. Well being on holiday every single night. It looks brilliant" Catherine replied.
"Yeah, it is. It's really fun. Really socialable. It was fun to grow up here. Their really friendly - they'll love you" Sara replied.
Gradually people started to notice Sara and Laney and came over. Everyone was over the moon to see them. Soon it was like an exodus over to the pair. Catherine and Grissom couldn't get anywhere near Sara and Laney. But before long, Libby started introducing Catherine and Grissom to everyone. The community were talking and talking away to Catherine and Grissom. They were really friendly people. Soon, loads of people started to bring lots of tables out and lay them in a long row. The tables became laden with food and drink. Soon Catherine and Grissom were ushered over to sit down at a table by some talkative strangers. Everyone had thousands of questions for the pair: "So what's it like working with our Sara?", "She's really clever. Don't you think?", "Is she good at her job?", "How's Alaney doing?", "What's Las Vegas like?", "Do you like living in Las Vegas?", "What is an entomologist exactly?", "What college did you go to?", etcetera. They clearly loved Sara and Laney to death. They were so friendly that even Grissom felt at ease. Grissom and Catherine had a wonderful time. Similarly Sara was having the time of her life too. Catherine and Grissom noticed how at ease Sara seemed around her family and her community. Over the last few days they had saw an ease and confidence in Sara that they'd never seen before.
When it began to get dark some of the community started to put some lights up. This actually added to the party feel. After dinner, music was put on and everyone started dancing. Not two step but actual partner dancing like a square dance or something. Sara and Grissom were separately reluctant to dance but people eventually got them dancing. Everyone swapped partners and everyone danced with everyone. Grissom danced with Catherine, Alaney and loads of strangers. Grissom felt too shy and felt it too awkward to ask Sara or Libby to dance. But he had a burning desire to dance with them both. Grissom was secretly over the moon then when Libby came over and asked him to dance. He felt such a connection with her. Sara thought it a bad idea to ask Grissom to dance. He was more then likely going to say its too awkward considering.
After half an hour of dancing Sara was knackered. She looked round for people to talk to because though she didn't mind having time alone she knew it would appear rude. Being camp cuckoo there were thousands of people sitting down who Sara could quite easily talk to. Even though there was at least thirty or forty people dancing there were still thirty or so sitting down. Sara noticed Annie and Billy. There were a couple in their late twenties. Annie and Billy had just had a baby girl called Amber only six months ago. This baby accompanied their three year old son Dylan who was currently running around playing with some of the teenagers. Sara went over to the couple who were holding their baby.
"Well hello stranger. How are you?. You still liking the bright lights of the big city?" Annie said.
"I'm good. I still love my job. Can I ask you a favour?. I was wondering if I could hold Amber?" Sara asked.
"Why of course you can!", Annie exclaimed delighted, "Did you hear that Billy?. Sara Sidle wants to bond with a child?".
"I sure did" Billy replied delighted.
Annie handed baby Amber over to Sara.
"So what's got into you Sara Sidle?. You going soft on us?. I have heard on the grapevine that ever since you had Alaney dumped on your doorstep you've grown quite attached to that teenager. But I didn't realise it extended to little children too! - let alone babies!. She really has changed your life hasn't she?. I never really got why you had such a problem with children anyway" Annie commented ecstatically.
Sara seemed quite scared holding the baby but soon eased right into it. She really enjoyed it.
"So does this mean your be having your own baby soon?" Annie asked.
"Annie!. Don't be so rude!" Billy exclaimed.
"Do you mean am I pregnant?. No!. I'm not!. But who knows - maybe one day" Sara replied.
"Well you better hurry up before your biological clock runs out!. You're nearly thirty three now aren't you?" Annie commented, not meaning to sound so rude.
"I need to sort some things out in my life first. But maybe then" Sara replied.
"You don't even know if she's got a steady man, Annie!. How about it Sara?. Anyone special in your life?" Billy commented.
"No, not at the moment" Sara replied quite content as she looked into the baby's eyes.
"A lovely girl like you?. I'll tell you what you need. You need to change your job. Your momma is always telling us how you hardly get out because of your job!" Billy commented.
Sara looked round and happened to notice a group of teenagers nearly out of sight in the wood. She knew exactly what they were doing.
"Excuse me. Thank you ever so much" Sara said and gave the baby back.
Sara begun walking over to the teenagers and suddenly noticed Daven was going in the same direction. He raised his eyebrows disapprovingly when he saw her to acknowledge he'd seen what she had. They walked into the woods and approached a group of logs where the teenagers, including Alaney and Janey, were sitting smoking PCP. Sara took the joint out of one of their mouths and sat down. Daven sat down too. The teenagers' tutted. Sara and Daven were not pleased. They launched into a funny duologue.
"Did I ever tell you the story I like to call the cannibalistic cheerleader on PCP?" Sara asked, knowing she hadn't.
"No Sara, that's a new one" one of the girls replied.
"We've told you about Harry, the guy who never came out of a LSD trip, right?" Daven asked.
"We're not doing LSD" one of the boys replied.
"No, but your doing. Once your sitting comfortable I'll tell you the cheerleader story. Then Daven will tell you his testimony on how much his life improved, and indeed 6th grade, when he gave up weed" Sara told them.
"You can't only have the cheerleader story to tell, Sara?" Daven commented.
"Oh no Daven, I have millions" Sara replied.
"We could keep them here all night" Daven proposed evilly.
"I mean for goodness sake, Alaney!. How many times have I told you personally to stop smoking drugs?!?" Sara exasperated.
"I haven't been doing anything" Laney insisted.
"She hasn't" Janey agreed.
"All of you! - How many times do we have to tell you to not mess with drugs?" Sara exasperated.
Sara sighed.
"I assigned to the case of a 17 year old cheerleader found dead in the middle of a football field. Her liver had been eaten" Sara begun to tell the story.
Finally at two am the party begun to finish. By three am there was only a few people quietly sitting out chatting by the campfires with only the odd guitar playing quietly. Most of the people with young families were asleep. Catherine and Grissom were quite worried about how much sleep the children could get if the parties went on every night and till this time. But Sara soon reassured them that loud music doesn't play till that time every night and some nights they didn't even have such loud parties. She did mention though that the community was doing something ever night usually. By two thirty, Sara and her guests were leaving. Sara was quite disappointed to find Laney coming back too. So Sara pulled her aside and had a word with her.
"What are you doing, Laney?. I thought you were staying at Miranda's?. You don't think your safe round my dad now do you?. You're in more danger than ever!. He pretends to be nice to people so they trust him and then their more vulnerable. Let me give you an example. Before your cosy little tea if he asked you to go for a walk round the woods you wouldn't dream of it. But now he's convinced you he's all nice and sweet you might not think twice about going. By tomorrow morning we'll find you dead in the bottom of some river!" Sara whispered to Laney.
"I'm not that gullible" Laney whispered back.
"Don't trust him" Sara whispered in warning.
"I don't. The only reason I'm going back is I had a word with Daven and he's staying over in his room tonight. He'll protect me and he'll make sure your dad doesn't come and kill me in the middle of the night. It's a bit too late and he's drunk too much to drive back to his apartment anyway. He's just staying with his dad instead of his mum instead. Nothing too suspicious about that" Laney explained.
Sara smiled. Daven's presence gave her some reassurance.
Grissom had another wonderful sleep that night. He dreamt about Libby. Only in his dreams could he be with Libby. He just wanted to stay asleep forever. Suddenly he realised that Libby's voice wasn't a dream anymore. She was really calling him. He felt her shaking him.
"Grissom!. Grissom!. Grissom!. Wake up Grissom!" Libby
"Huh?" he woke up with a start.
"Sorry Grissom but its eleven thirty. I'd really appreciate it if you could come have some breakfast. You can't go without breakfast - it's the best meal of the day" Libby insisted.
"Right. Umm. O.k." Grissom said dumbfounded.
Libby begun to leave and then turned and said,
"Oh and Mr Grissom. Good Morning!" Libby said full of beans.
Catherine was coming out her room just as Grissom left for breakfast.
"Where are you going?" Grissom asked interested.
"Yoga" Catherine smiled.
"Yoga?" Grissom sniggered.
"Don't laugh!. It's very therapeutic and good exercise. I don't judge you, do I?. See you later" Catherine smiled.
Grissom walked over to the house and walked through the open back door into the kitchen. Libby got up.
"Morning Grissom. Come sit down. What would you like?" Libby said with a smile.
Grissom sat down. Sara, her cousin Janey, Daven, Linda and Alaney were sat at the table.
"Oh Sara, did your mom tell you Grandma, Granddad and my sister are coming Tuesday?" Janey told her.
The smile was wiped from both Sara and Libby's face.
"No. Great!. Just when I had a shared of self esteem growing up. Mom why did you tell them could come?. Why didn't you even tell me they were coming?" Sara asked.
"Do you think I asked them to come!. Sara, they're your grandparents and they love you and they want to see you. They invited themselves but it would be wrong of me to stop them or not tell them your here" Libby replied.
"It's not that I don't want to see them. I love them too. It's just this is a hard enough visit without grandma inferring in my life, mom. Plus Beatrice is a pain in the backside. She's always trying to make me feel small!" Sara replied.
"You think she makes YOU feel small!. Imagine being her twin sister then!. She always goes on about how I got the bad end of the deal living in camp cuckoo rather than with the grandparents. Like its second rate or something" Janey added.
"I can't believe they'd come here!" Sara laughed.
"I told them that you didn't have time to visit. White lie!. So they reluctantly invited themselves here. That's how much they love you. Plus they haven't seen the other girls in ages" Libby responded.
"Janey, Beatrice and you are their favourites though" whispered Libby.
"Anyway, your grandparents are getting old. They may not be with us forever" Libby said sensitively.
Two hours later, Catherine and Grissom sat alone in the Sidle's lounge. Sara, her parents and Alaney were out visiting camp cuckoo. Grissom had to stay behind to finish tweaking his lecture for tomorrow. Catherine offered to stay behind. It soon became apparent why Catherine had offered. Catherine got a chair and wedged it behind the lounge door to stop people getting in.
"What are you doing?" Grissom asked.
"Grissom. How would like to do a little science experiment?" Catherine proposed.
"What?" Grissom responded.
"Grissom, I'm really worried about Sara. I'm going to something really rude and really bad but I feel the pros will outweigh the cons" Catherine pleaded.
"What are you talking about?" Grissom asked.
Catherine reached under her chair and pulled out her CSI kit.
"I was thinking we could do a little search for significant blood?" Catherine said.
"No Catherine!" Grissom ordered.
"Come on. As soon as I walked into this room I swear I could smell bleach. Couldn't you?" Catherine insisted.
"Yeah but that could have been used for something else" Grissom defended half lying to himself.
"I also saw the look on Sara's face when she smelt it. She wasn't pleased. Maybe cos she knew we may guess. So I was thinking - there's no harm in checking for blood is there?. Just in case?" Catherine said.
"There's a lot of harm, Catherine!. Like what if they find out we've been snooping?" Grissom exclaimed.
"You were livid before. What's changed?" Catherine asked.
"Sara wouldn't lie to us. You said it yourself" Grissom reminded her.
"I've changed my mind" Catherine told him.
"Why now?" Grissom asked.
"Everything is starting to make sense. Last night when we went to camp cuckoo and I was talking to all those people - No one likes him, Grissom!. They all say the same thing - that's he's a pig. No one will say why though. There doesn't seem to be a reason. Even his own son doesn't like him!. I need to know. Like I said - I'm worried about Sara. She's very strange. A violent home might explain some of her behaviour" Catherine told him.
"Like?" Grissom asked.
"Like her disregard for her own safety?. And oh yeah the obvious one - her behaviour towards domestic violence!" Catherine exclaimed.
"She's just a caring and sensitive person, Catherine. Sara doesn't show the signs of being abused. Libby doesn't show it either. There's not a single mark on her at the moment" Grissom proposed.
"At the moment!. Anyway, how do you know what's under her clothes?" Catherine responded.
"No way! - Libby's too full of life. She has immense self confidence. You'd be able to tell. She's the one always telling him what to do" Grissom replied.
"Do you really think that?. It's all an act. Everything he says she does. She doesn't tell him what to do really. Their acting or covering up, Grissom. Boby has hardly said a word since we've come - do you really think he's like that?. Why do think Sara hates him so much?. If he has an opinion then Libby has to back him up. Do you realise Boby wasn't even going to let Libby donate a kidney for Laney?. Why did she even let him have that control over her, Grissom?" Catherine asked.
"Libby isn't a blood relative so there's no point. Boby's Alaney's father remember?. He didn't want to put her through all that. He loves her" Grissom reminded Catherine.
Catherine suddenly remembered. Grissom thought Boby was Alaney's father. Catherine couldn't tell him the truth - it wasn't fair to Sara. But it proved her point so well!. Libby might have let Laney die to do what Boby said!. She concealed Sara's rape to do what Boby thought best!.
"What about what her friend at the beach was talking about?. How about Libby's 'bad health'?. She doesn't seem ill at all, Grissom. I can tell the signs in all their behaviour. Libby's hiding it well but not well enough" Catherine proposed.
"No. Sara doesn't act abused" Grissom insisted.
"That's the problem. If I'm right - all she cares about is her mother. She doesn't care about herself or realise the effect growing up in a violent home has had on her. It's like she emotionless to violence on herself. Remember when the lab blew up and she didn't care about her wounds?" Catherine said.
"She was in shock, Catherine. Anyway, Sara wouldn't lie. You said it yourself" Grissom insisted.
"I know for a fact that she's lied about other things. She's like a pathological liar, Grissom!. The only thing that convinced you when you asked her about Boby was her word. I can assure you her word is worthless. Please I just have a hunch. I need to know" Catherine pleaded with him.
"Hippies are peace loving and non violent" Grissom reminded her.
"You can't just presume that every one of them is" Catherine exclaimed.
Grissom paused, thought for a while and begun to change his mind.
"Have you ever wondered how such a good CSI as Sara wasn't working when I called her to join us?" Grissom asked.
"Vaguely" Catherine responded.
"She took a leave of absence. When I asked her why she didn't tell me much. She just said her mother had become really ill. She avoided telling me why. Everyone keeps asking Sara how her mother is and no one I've met actually likes him. - everyone except Libby that is. He has no personality yet she seems to think the sun shines out his backside. We could always try. Spray some phenolphthalein and clear it up if we find anything. They won't be back for ages" Grissom said.
"It's unlikely there'll be blood unless there's head trauma. Even if we find some blood drops from what could be a punch it could be a coincidence. But that doesn't mean he's not violent. But it's worth a try - for a start" Catherine replied.
Grissom nodded. Catherine smiled and handed Grissom a bottle of phenolphthalein. They started spraying in random places but didn't find anything significant. Finally Grissom sprayed a coffee table and found a significant amount of blood all along part of it. It looked like a head trauma. He stopped and closed his eyes in distress. His whole world came crashing down around him. He felt like he might be sick but instead he just started to shake.
"Grissom" Catherine said with fear in her voice.
Grissom turned. Catherine had found blood all down one of the walls.
"This looks like a head trauma" Catherine said regretfully.
Grissom came over and looked.
"There's a probable head trauma over on that coffee table too" Grissom said dazed.
Catherine went over and looked. She put her hands on her face in distress.
"Two head traumas!. This blood can't be more than a few months old, Grissom!. Two head traumas in that time. This is quite serious Grissom!" Catherine responded with concern.
"She was in intensive care a few months ago wasn't she" Grissom replied.
"It's true, Grissom. It's really true!. He's really knocking her about. Shit!. Deep down I didn't really want to believe it!" Catherine exclaimed.
But soon she stopped. She could hear sobbing. Until now she hadn't turned around. She turned to find Grissom sitting down sobbing and looking distraught.
"Oh Grissom" Catherine responded sympathetically.
"You really like Libby don't you?. And I know how fond you are of Sara. I'm fond of her too" Catherine gestured.
She came over and comforted him with an arm round his shoulder. They cried together.
"He's hurting them Catherine!. He's really hurting them" Grissom sobbed.
"Maybe not, Sara" Catherine replied hopefully.
"Emotionally though. He's screwed up her head" Grissom responded.
"Considering what she's been through. She's actually amazingly sane! - except for the emotionless about her own pain thing" Catherine proposed.
"I should have seen it. But she didn't show the signs!" Grissom exclaimed.
"Like I said. She's so wrapped up in protecting her mom that she doesn't realise the affect it's all had on her. But she's a victim too" Catherine told him.
Catherine suddenly realised something,
"Grissom your shaking" she commented surprised.
"So are you" Grissom replied.
Catherine hadn't realised she was until now.
They both just looked at each other speechless.
"I'm going to kill him Catherine" Grissom told her while looking her straight in the eyes.
"No, your not" Catherine insisted.
They happened to look around and suddenly noticed Sara's shocked and betrayed face leaning in through the window. She couldn't believe they'd done this. She was distraught.
"How could you do this?. How could you come into my home and invade my privacy?" Sara shouted.
Sara shook her head and ran off in floods of tears.
"Sara wait!" Grissom called out the window.
"Well if we still had any doubts she's just confirmed it" Catherine commented.
Grissom soon followed after Sara. Catherine had agreed to clean up and follow soon after.
Sara came rushing down.
"I'm ready, I'm ready" Sara announced.
Everyone left the Sidle's house and begun to walk towards what was camp cuckoo. Soon after setting off Sara pulled her father far behind the others to walk with her.
"I want a word with you" Sara demanded.
Boby co-operated.
"Why have you started being nice to Laney?. What are you up to?" Sara asked.
"You told me to stop ignoring her. To stop being horrid to her. You said you wished I cared about her more. I'm just trying to make things up with you. I want us to be on better terms, Sara. I was hoping we could have our own afternoon tea sometime soon. I'm just so sick of all this bickering between us. Me and your mother are happy why can't us two be?" Boby commented.
"My mom's gullible. I will never be like her. I know you inside out, dad!. There's no point trying to fool me!. The only reason you're ever nice to someone is to get them into bed or trap them into trusting you so you can hurt them later. So listen up because I'll only say this once. If you hurt Alaney in any shape or form I will hunt you down and kill you myself. Do you understand?. Don't test my patience because I have had it up to here with you. You are walking a very fine line" Sara whispered angrily.
"I'm trying my best, Sara. I just can't win with you!. I try and make it up to you. I try to be nice to stop the bickering but you still don't let up" Boby defended.
"Are you sorry?" Sara asked.
"What?" Boby replied pretending not to know what she meant.
"Are you sorry for all the things you've done to hurt people?. You know what I mean" Sara asked angrily.
Boby just went silent. He tried to speak but no words come out.
"You know me too well. You know there's no point lying to me. You know that I won't do much about the fact you don't care. But the fact is you don't care. You don't care about anyone more than yourself. All you care about is looking good. You don't seem to understand. The point of forgiveness is that you're meant to be sorry for what you've done. We can't move on until I've forgiven you and unless you were genuinely sorry that can't happen. What's wrong with you?. How can you think that everything will just be o.k. because you say so. How on earth do you think I can just forget when your not even sorry?. Maybe mom's right. Maybe you are ill in the head. You just don't seem to understand the seriousness of what you done" Sara lectured him.
Boby sighed. He was disappointed but was taking some of this in.
"Can we at least be civil?. We used to be civil before your friends came" Boby tried.
"We can be civil. But we won't be having any jolly afternoon teas. Civil ones maybe" Sara replied.
Sara pointed a finger right into Boby's face and said angrily,
"Don't touch her!".
Sara turned away to walk off but Boby said something which caught her attention,
"I love you. So why's it so hard to believe I might be falling in love with her too?" Boby asked.
Sara was quite shocked but this. But knew how to react.
"I find it hard to believe that you just suddenly woke up this morning, after eighteen years of feeling zilch for her, and decided you love her. You've never thought of her as part of this family - so don't pretend you do now. But frankly, it's doesn't matter whether you love her or not - that won't stop you hurting her. Just don't go near her. Please" Sara replied.
The walk hadn't been long through the forest when the group soon approached a fence. Again there was a sign which said 'PRIVATE PROPERTY'. There was a gate and they went through. Catherine and Grissom began to hear music. It sounded like a guitar and a young man singing. Sara was in front of everyone and as they reached the trees clearing Sara announced,
"Welcome to camp cuckoo!".
Catherine and Grissom glanced around. There were loads of little wood houses. They weren't much but they were better than trailers. Behind the small houses were four medium sized houses. They were Libby and Boby's siblings' houses and Daven's mom's house. Catherine counted sixteen of the smaller houses. These smaller houses all faced inwards in an oblong shape. All the houses had porches and there were people sitting on them. There were loads of campfires and people sitting round them. There were quite a few children, quite a few teenagers and quite a few adults. Some people wore full blown new age clothing, some had a hint of modern and a hint of new age, and some wore purely modern but casual clothing. It was early evening and the breeze was cool. Everyone seemed so relaxed and happy. Children were playing various games with each other. Teenagers and adults were sitting round chatting or listening to the boy who was playing the guitar and singing or they were listening to music records.
"What's wrong with it?" Catherine asked.
"Nothing much. Except for the harms of drugs I'm fairly happy with it" Sara answered.
"So why did you make a fuss?" Grissom asked.
"If I'd never given you any warning don't you think you'd be a bit taken aback by the 24/7 street party feeling?. Even the clothing?. Anyway, the real thing isn't as bad as the stereotype. But the locals have blown everything out of proportion. They think it's some kind of cult or something. Camp cuckoo's just different - their not too dangerous. You get drugs and casual sex anywhere" Sara explained.
"I suppose your right. I would have been surprised if you hadn't warned me" Grissom admitted.
"You're lucky. It's not howling night" Sara laughed
"Howling night?" Catherine asked.
"If you'd be here a week earlier my mother would have more than likely make you howl at the moon. But hey freedom of opinion!. Whatever pushes their buttons. The week before some people even had a partner swinging session. But my parents aren't into that anymore though" Sara explained.
"Tell me it's a type of dance" Grissom replied.
"Don't be such a prude" Sara laughed.
Catherine was quite surprised Sara had just reacted that way.
"Did you say 24/7 partying?" Catherine asked.
"Basically!" Sara smiled.
"It looks like. Well being on holiday every single night. It looks brilliant" Catherine replied.
"Yeah, it is. It's really fun. Really socialable. It was fun to grow up here. Their really friendly - they'll love you" Sara replied.
Gradually people started to notice Sara and Laney and came over. Everyone was over the moon to see them. Soon it was like an exodus over to the pair. Catherine and Grissom couldn't get anywhere near Sara and Laney. But before long, Libby started introducing Catherine and Grissom to everyone. The community were talking and talking away to Catherine and Grissom. They were really friendly people. Soon, loads of people started to bring lots of tables out and lay them in a long row. The tables became laden with food and drink. Soon Catherine and Grissom were ushered over to sit down at a table by some talkative strangers. Everyone had thousands of questions for the pair: "So what's it like working with our Sara?", "She's really clever. Don't you think?", "Is she good at her job?", "How's Alaney doing?", "What's Las Vegas like?", "Do you like living in Las Vegas?", "What is an entomologist exactly?", "What college did you go to?", etcetera. They clearly loved Sara and Laney to death. They were so friendly that even Grissom felt at ease. Grissom and Catherine had a wonderful time. Similarly Sara was having the time of her life too. Catherine and Grissom noticed how at ease Sara seemed around her family and her community. Over the last few days they had saw an ease and confidence in Sara that they'd never seen before.
When it began to get dark some of the community started to put some lights up. This actually added to the party feel. After dinner, music was put on and everyone started dancing. Not two step but actual partner dancing like a square dance or something. Sara and Grissom were separately reluctant to dance but people eventually got them dancing. Everyone swapped partners and everyone danced with everyone. Grissom danced with Catherine, Alaney and loads of strangers. Grissom felt too shy and felt it too awkward to ask Sara or Libby to dance. But he had a burning desire to dance with them both. Grissom was secretly over the moon then when Libby came over and asked him to dance. He felt such a connection with her. Sara thought it a bad idea to ask Grissom to dance. He was more then likely going to say its too awkward considering.
After half an hour of dancing Sara was knackered. She looked round for people to talk to because though she didn't mind having time alone she knew it would appear rude. Being camp cuckoo there were thousands of people sitting down who Sara could quite easily talk to. Even though there was at least thirty or forty people dancing there were still thirty or so sitting down. Sara noticed Annie and Billy. There were a couple in their late twenties. Annie and Billy had just had a baby girl called Amber only six months ago. This baby accompanied their three year old son Dylan who was currently running around playing with some of the teenagers. Sara went over to the couple who were holding their baby.
"Well hello stranger. How are you?. You still liking the bright lights of the big city?" Annie said.
"I'm good. I still love my job. Can I ask you a favour?. I was wondering if I could hold Amber?" Sara asked.
"Why of course you can!", Annie exclaimed delighted, "Did you hear that Billy?. Sara Sidle wants to bond with a child?".
"I sure did" Billy replied delighted.
Annie handed baby Amber over to Sara.
"So what's got into you Sara Sidle?. You going soft on us?. I have heard on the grapevine that ever since you had Alaney dumped on your doorstep you've grown quite attached to that teenager. But I didn't realise it extended to little children too! - let alone babies!. She really has changed your life hasn't she?. I never really got why you had such a problem with children anyway" Annie commented ecstatically.
Sara seemed quite scared holding the baby but soon eased right into it. She really enjoyed it.
"So does this mean your be having your own baby soon?" Annie asked.
"Annie!. Don't be so rude!" Billy exclaimed.
"Do you mean am I pregnant?. No!. I'm not!. But who knows - maybe one day" Sara replied.
"Well you better hurry up before your biological clock runs out!. You're nearly thirty three now aren't you?" Annie commented, not meaning to sound so rude.
"I need to sort some things out in my life first. But maybe then" Sara replied.
"You don't even know if she's got a steady man, Annie!. How about it Sara?. Anyone special in your life?" Billy commented.
"No, not at the moment" Sara replied quite content as she looked into the baby's eyes.
"A lovely girl like you?. I'll tell you what you need. You need to change your job. Your momma is always telling us how you hardly get out because of your job!" Billy commented.
Sara looked round and happened to notice a group of teenagers nearly out of sight in the wood. She knew exactly what they were doing.
"Excuse me. Thank you ever so much" Sara said and gave the baby back.
Sara begun walking over to the teenagers and suddenly noticed Daven was going in the same direction. He raised his eyebrows disapprovingly when he saw her to acknowledge he'd seen what she had. They walked into the woods and approached a group of logs where the teenagers, including Alaney and Janey, were sitting smoking PCP. Sara took the joint out of one of their mouths and sat down. Daven sat down too. The teenagers' tutted. Sara and Daven were not pleased. They launched into a funny duologue.
"Did I ever tell you the story I like to call the cannibalistic cheerleader on PCP?" Sara asked, knowing she hadn't.
"No Sara, that's a new one" one of the girls replied.
"We've told you about Harry, the guy who never came out of a LSD trip, right?" Daven asked.
"We're not doing LSD" one of the boys replied.
"No, but your doing. Once your sitting comfortable I'll tell you the cheerleader story. Then Daven will tell you his testimony on how much his life improved, and indeed 6th grade, when he gave up weed" Sara told them.
"You can't only have the cheerleader story to tell, Sara?" Daven commented.
"Oh no Daven, I have millions" Sara replied.
"We could keep them here all night" Daven proposed evilly.
"I mean for goodness sake, Alaney!. How many times have I told you personally to stop smoking drugs?!?" Sara exasperated.
"I haven't been doing anything" Laney insisted.
"She hasn't" Janey agreed.
"All of you! - How many times do we have to tell you to not mess with drugs?" Sara exasperated.
Sara sighed.
"I assigned to the case of a 17 year old cheerleader found dead in the middle of a football field. Her liver had been eaten" Sara begun to tell the story.
Finally at two am the party begun to finish. By three am there was only a few people quietly sitting out chatting by the campfires with only the odd guitar playing quietly. Most of the people with young families were asleep. Catherine and Grissom were quite worried about how much sleep the children could get if the parties went on every night and till this time. But Sara soon reassured them that loud music doesn't play till that time every night and some nights they didn't even have such loud parties. She did mention though that the community was doing something ever night usually. By two thirty, Sara and her guests were leaving. Sara was quite disappointed to find Laney coming back too. So Sara pulled her aside and had a word with her.
"What are you doing, Laney?. I thought you were staying at Miranda's?. You don't think your safe round my dad now do you?. You're in more danger than ever!. He pretends to be nice to people so they trust him and then their more vulnerable. Let me give you an example. Before your cosy little tea if he asked you to go for a walk round the woods you wouldn't dream of it. But now he's convinced you he's all nice and sweet you might not think twice about going. By tomorrow morning we'll find you dead in the bottom of some river!" Sara whispered to Laney.
"I'm not that gullible" Laney whispered back.
"Don't trust him" Sara whispered in warning.
"I don't. The only reason I'm going back is I had a word with Daven and he's staying over in his room tonight. He'll protect me and he'll make sure your dad doesn't come and kill me in the middle of the night. It's a bit too late and he's drunk too much to drive back to his apartment anyway. He's just staying with his dad instead of his mum instead. Nothing too suspicious about that" Laney explained.
Sara smiled. Daven's presence gave her some reassurance.
Grissom had another wonderful sleep that night. He dreamt about Libby. Only in his dreams could he be with Libby. He just wanted to stay asleep forever. Suddenly he realised that Libby's voice wasn't a dream anymore. She was really calling him. He felt her shaking him.
"Grissom!. Grissom!. Grissom!. Wake up Grissom!" Libby
"Huh?" he woke up with a start.
"Sorry Grissom but its eleven thirty. I'd really appreciate it if you could come have some breakfast. You can't go without breakfast - it's the best meal of the day" Libby insisted.
"Right. Umm. O.k." Grissom said dumbfounded.
Libby begun to leave and then turned and said,
"Oh and Mr Grissom. Good Morning!" Libby said full of beans.
Catherine was coming out her room just as Grissom left for breakfast.
"Where are you going?" Grissom asked interested.
"Yoga" Catherine smiled.
"Yoga?" Grissom sniggered.
"Don't laugh!. It's very therapeutic and good exercise. I don't judge you, do I?. See you later" Catherine smiled.
Grissom walked over to the house and walked through the open back door into the kitchen. Libby got up.
"Morning Grissom. Come sit down. What would you like?" Libby said with a smile.
Grissom sat down. Sara, her cousin Janey, Daven, Linda and Alaney were sat at the table.
"Oh Sara, did your mom tell you Grandma, Granddad and my sister are coming Tuesday?" Janey told her.
The smile was wiped from both Sara and Libby's face.
"No. Great!. Just when I had a shared of self esteem growing up. Mom why did you tell them could come?. Why didn't you even tell me they were coming?" Sara asked.
"Do you think I asked them to come!. Sara, they're your grandparents and they love you and they want to see you. They invited themselves but it would be wrong of me to stop them or not tell them your here" Libby replied.
"It's not that I don't want to see them. I love them too. It's just this is a hard enough visit without grandma inferring in my life, mom. Plus Beatrice is a pain in the backside. She's always trying to make me feel small!" Sara replied.
"You think she makes YOU feel small!. Imagine being her twin sister then!. She always goes on about how I got the bad end of the deal living in camp cuckoo rather than with the grandparents. Like its second rate or something" Janey added.
"I can't believe they'd come here!" Sara laughed.
"I told them that you didn't have time to visit. White lie!. So they reluctantly invited themselves here. That's how much they love you. Plus they haven't seen the other girls in ages" Libby responded.
"Janey, Beatrice and you are their favourites though" whispered Libby.
"Anyway, your grandparents are getting old. They may not be with us forever" Libby said sensitively.
Two hours later, Catherine and Grissom sat alone in the Sidle's lounge. Sara, her parents and Alaney were out visiting camp cuckoo. Grissom had to stay behind to finish tweaking his lecture for tomorrow. Catherine offered to stay behind. It soon became apparent why Catherine had offered. Catherine got a chair and wedged it behind the lounge door to stop people getting in.
"What are you doing?" Grissom asked.
"Grissom. How would like to do a little science experiment?" Catherine proposed.
"What?" Grissom responded.
"Grissom, I'm really worried about Sara. I'm going to something really rude and really bad but I feel the pros will outweigh the cons" Catherine pleaded.
"What are you talking about?" Grissom asked.
Catherine reached under her chair and pulled out her CSI kit.
"I was thinking we could do a little search for significant blood?" Catherine said.
"No Catherine!" Grissom ordered.
"Come on. As soon as I walked into this room I swear I could smell bleach. Couldn't you?" Catherine insisted.
"Yeah but that could have been used for something else" Grissom defended half lying to himself.
"I also saw the look on Sara's face when she smelt it. She wasn't pleased. Maybe cos she knew we may guess. So I was thinking - there's no harm in checking for blood is there?. Just in case?" Catherine said.
"There's a lot of harm, Catherine!. Like what if they find out we've been snooping?" Grissom exclaimed.
"You were livid before. What's changed?" Catherine asked.
"Sara wouldn't lie to us. You said it yourself" Grissom reminded her.
"I've changed my mind" Catherine told him.
"Why now?" Grissom asked.
"Everything is starting to make sense. Last night when we went to camp cuckoo and I was talking to all those people - No one likes him, Grissom!. They all say the same thing - that's he's a pig. No one will say why though. There doesn't seem to be a reason. Even his own son doesn't like him!. I need to know. Like I said - I'm worried about Sara. She's very strange. A violent home might explain some of her behaviour" Catherine told him.
"Like?" Grissom asked.
"Like her disregard for her own safety?. And oh yeah the obvious one - her behaviour towards domestic violence!" Catherine exclaimed.
"She's just a caring and sensitive person, Catherine. Sara doesn't show the signs of being abused. Libby doesn't show it either. There's not a single mark on her at the moment" Grissom proposed.
"At the moment!. Anyway, how do you know what's under her clothes?" Catherine responded.
"No way! - Libby's too full of life. She has immense self confidence. You'd be able to tell. She's the one always telling him what to do" Grissom replied.
"Do you really think that?. It's all an act. Everything he says she does. She doesn't tell him what to do really. Their acting or covering up, Grissom. Boby has hardly said a word since we've come - do you really think he's like that?. Why do think Sara hates him so much?. If he has an opinion then Libby has to back him up. Do you realise Boby wasn't even going to let Libby donate a kidney for Laney?. Why did she even let him have that control over her, Grissom?" Catherine asked.
"Libby isn't a blood relative so there's no point. Boby's Alaney's father remember?. He didn't want to put her through all that. He loves her" Grissom reminded Catherine.
Catherine suddenly remembered. Grissom thought Boby was Alaney's father. Catherine couldn't tell him the truth - it wasn't fair to Sara. But it proved her point so well!. Libby might have let Laney die to do what Boby said!. She concealed Sara's rape to do what Boby thought best!.
"What about what her friend at the beach was talking about?. How about Libby's 'bad health'?. She doesn't seem ill at all, Grissom. I can tell the signs in all their behaviour. Libby's hiding it well but not well enough" Catherine proposed.
"No. Sara doesn't act abused" Grissom insisted.
"That's the problem. If I'm right - all she cares about is her mother. She doesn't care about herself or realise the effect growing up in a violent home has had on her. It's like she emotionless to violence on herself. Remember when the lab blew up and she didn't care about her wounds?" Catherine said.
"She was in shock, Catherine. Anyway, Sara wouldn't lie. You said it yourself" Grissom insisted.
"I know for a fact that she's lied about other things. She's like a pathological liar, Grissom!. The only thing that convinced you when you asked her about Boby was her word. I can assure you her word is worthless. Please I just have a hunch. I need to know" Catherine pleaded with him.
"Hippies are peace loving and non violent" Grissom reminded her.
"You can't just presume that every one of them is" Catherine exclaimed.
Grissom paused, thought for a while and begun to change his mind.
"Have you ever wondered how such a good CSI as Sara wasn't working when I called her to join us?" Grissom asked.
"Vaguely" Catherine responded.
"She took a leave of absence. When I asked her why she didn't tell me much. She just said her mother had become really ill. She avoided telling me why. Everyone keeps asking Sara how her mother is and no one I've met actually likes him. - everyone except Libby that is. He has no personality yet she seems to think the sun shines out his backside. We could always try. Spray some phenolphthalein and clear it up if we find anything. They won't be back for ages" Grissom said.
"It's unlikely there'll be blood unless there's head trauma. Even if we find some blood drops from what could be a punch it could be a coincidence. But that doesn't mean he's not violent. But it's worth a try - for a start" Catherine replied.
Grissom nodded. Catherine smiled and handed Grissom a bottle of phenolphthalein. They started spraying in random places but didn't find anything significant. Finally Grissom sprayed a coffee table and found a significant amount of blood all along part of it. It looked like a head trauma. He stopped and closed his eyes in distress. His whole world came crashing down around him. He felt like he might be sick but instead he just started to shake.
"Grissom" Catherine said with fear in her voice.
Grissom turned. Catherine had found blood all down one of the walls.
"This looks like a head trauma" Catherine said regretfully.
Grissom came over and looked.
"There's a probable head trauma over on that coffee table too" Grissom said dazed.
Catherine went over and looked. She put her hands on her face in distress.
"Two head traumas!. This blood can't be more than a few months old, Grissom!. Two head traumas in that time. This is quite serious Grissom!" Catherine responded with concern.
"She was in intensive care a few months ago wasn't she" Grissom replied.
"It's true, Grissom. It's really true!. He's really knocking her about. Shit!. Deep down I didn't really want to believe it!" Catherine exclaimed.
But soon she stopped. She could hear sobbing. Until now she hadn't turned around. She turned to find Grissom sitting down sobbing and looking distraught.
"Oh Grissom" Catherine responded sympathetically.
"You really like Libby don't you?. And I know how fond you are of Sara. I'm fond of her too" Catherine gestured.
She came over and comforted him with an arm round his shoulder. They cried together.
"He's hurting them Catherine!. He's really hurting them" Grissom sobbed.
"Maybe not, Sara" Catherine replied hopefully.
"Emotionally though. He's screwed up her head" Grissom responded.
"Considering what she's been through. She's actually amazingly sane! - except for the emotionless about her own pain thing" Catherine proposed.
"I should have seen it. But she didn't show the signs!" Grissom exclaimed.
"Like I said. She's so wrapped up in protecting her mom that she doesn't realise the affect it's all had on her. But she's a victim too" Catherine told him.
Catherine suddenly realised something,
"Grissom your shaking" she commented surprised.
"So are you" Grissom replied.
Catherine hadn't realised she was until now.
They both just looked at each other speechless.
"I'm going to kill him Catherine" Grissom told her while looking her straight in the eyes.
"No, your not" Catherine insisted.
They happened to look around and suddenly noticed Sara's shocked and betrayed face leaning in through the window. She couldn't believe they'd done this. She was distraught.
"How could you do this?. How could you come into my home and invade my privacy?" Sara shouted.
Sara shook her head and ran off in floods of tears.
"Sara wait!" Grissom called out the window.
"Well if we still had any doubts she's just confirmed it" Catherine commented.
Grissom soon followed after Sara. Catherine had agreed to clean up and follow soon after.